Is a Limited Edition Honda Civic Ever Worth $120,000 to You?
This one-of-300 JDM special edition is on sale in the UK, but it won’t come cheap.
The Honda Civic is one of the all-time most popular tuner cars. With a low bar for entry and a huge community built around the car, parts are cheap and inspiration plentiful. For those of greater means, the sky is the limit, with models like the Type R promising uprated hardware and spirited performance in return for a higher purchase price. Rarer still is a car like the Mugen RR. A special edition built by Honda's own tuning house, it turns the dial not up to eleven, but something more like ten and a half. Of course, it naturally commands an even higher price, with one example of the 2007 model currently selling for £89,990 at Torque GT in the UK.
Given the rather stellar number, which equates to over $120,000 US dollars, you'd be forgiven for asking what you get for your money. The Mugen RR, made in a run of just 300 cars, does come with a few niceties above and beyond the FD2 Type R on which it is based. Weight is reduced by around 30lbs or so, thanks to carbon fiber bumpers and an aluminum hood. The engine has been fitted with uprated Mugen camshafts, along with a freer flowing exhaust system and an ECU tune, bumping power to 237hp, up from 222hp in the stock JDM Type R.
All 300 examples of the Mugen RR came finished in Milano Red. Speaking of other cosmetic details, there's Recaro bucket seats inside, a smattering of badges, logos, and interior touches, and a set of 18-inch Mugen wheels equipped as standard. There's a suitably large carbon fiber wing out back, as well, with an inset Mugen logo and adjustments for tweaking the angle. There's also a gauge cluster in the center of the dash for keeping an eye on the car's vital statistics, which does a lot to reinforce the boy racer look.
The particular example on sale at Torque GT does present well, of course. The original wheels are still there, the paint presents beautifully, and it's hard to find a hair out of place in the interior, either. But, at the end of the day, it's a huge sum of money for what is fundamentally a 14 year old Civic. For those seeking performance, it makes little sense; any number of second-hand Hondas could be built to outdo the Mugen RR for less than half of the purchase price.
However, rare cars will always trend higher; we've seen one-of-20 Mugen special editions priced at $90,000 before. With that said, this example is significantly less rare and also significantly pricier, too. Whatever happens, this Mugen RR is likely to go to a home that wants the genuine article—a near-perfect example of a finely fettled JDM special edition. Whether it fetches the full asking price will remain to be seen.
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